Hickory Farms gives globally and locally

Toledo is home to a number of international businesses. One of these businesses, Hickory Farms, often sits quietly at its headquarters on Holland Road in Maumee. Everyone imagines plenty of activity at the food company with its classic winter holiday gifts towards the end of the calendar year. However, recently the company created a flurry of activity across the city when it closed its doors for a half day and engaged in hunger-related volunteer projects.

As a component of its national partnership with Share Our Strength, Hickory Farms hosted a volunteer service day. The company closed down its business operations and employees left their desks and work stations to work do volunteer work in the community. The work projects were completed with two agencies funded by Share Our Strength: Toledo GROWs and the Toledo Northwest Ohio Foodbank.

At the Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank (TNOFB), Hickory Farms volunteers sorted food. They also helped stock the shelves with food and evaluated products discarding outdated or damaged items. TNOFB has a mission to help other community organizations end hunger.

Other Hickory Farms employees worked side-by-side with master gardeners, in three urban community gardens sponsored by the Toledo GROWs program. Their efforts weeding, mulching, harvesting and building chicken coups and benches will help the work of the kids, teens and garden neighbors who do this work in the gardens every week. Toledo GROWs is a grassroots program of the Toledo Botanical Garden dedicated to the growth and success of community gardens providing fresh grown produce for garden neighbors.

The work contributions were meaningful to the Toledo GROWs and to those who do the hard labor involved in keeping an urban garden that provides fresh food for neighbors said Rasean Snodgrass, urban community gardener with Toledo GROWs.

“Us working with Hickory Farms means a lot of people know what we are doing. When they come out and push it just as hard as we do that means they appreciate what we do,” said Snodgrass. “They want to help this effort to feed people.

Working on hunger as a community issue makes sense for the food company, and working with the nation’s leader in ending hunger, Share Our Strength, helps Hickory Farms magnify its impact on hunger beyond northwest Ohio in cities and communities where their stores, centers and customers are located.

In addition to the community service day benefiting local Share Our Strength grantees, Hickory Farms was a leading sponsor of “Taste of the Nation – Toledo” in April. The region’s premier food and wine tasting gala is the main event raising funds, which are returned to the region through grants to well-run programs addressing hunger. Also the company raises funds for Share Our Strength by asking every customer in retail stores, catalogue orders and online to donate one dollar to join them in their efforts to end childhood hunger.

Hickory Farms and Share Our Strength have the common belief that hunger is an issue that connects everyone locally and globally. Share Our Strength is committed to ending childhood hunger.

“All of us need to eat. This is one of the issues that unites us as human beings,” said Chuck Scofield, chief development officer, Share Our Strength

Christine Senack is a Toledo-based consultant helping non-profit organizations, businesses and individuals work smarter for the greater good of our community. On occasion she also presents the TMZ Report on FOX Toledo News First at 4. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

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on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Community, Great Giving.
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